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Cortical thickness is linked to executive functioning in adulthood and aging.

ABSTRACT: Executive functions that are dependent upon the frontal-parietal network decline considerably during the course of normal aging. To delineate neuroanatomical correlates of age-related executive impairment, we investigated the relation between cortical thickness and executive functioning in 73 younger (20-32 years) and 56 older (60-71 years) healthy adults. Executive functioning was assessed using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Cortical thickness was measured at each location of the cortical mantle using surface-based segmentation procedures on high-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance images. For regions involved in WCST performance, such as the lateral prefrontal and parietal cortices, we found that thicker cortex was related to higher accuracy. Follow-up ROI-based analyses revealed that these associations were stronger in older than in younger adults. Moreover, among older adults, high and low performers differed in cortical thickness within regions generally linked to WCST performance. Our results indicate that the structural cortical correlates of executive functioning largely overlap with previously identified functional patterns. We conclude that structural preservation of relevant brain regions is associated with higher levels of executive performance in old age, and underscore the need to consider the heterogeneity of brain aging in relation to cognitive functioning.

SUBMITTER: Burzynska AZ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6869850 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cortical thickness is linked to executive functioning in adulthood and aging.

Burzynska Agnieszka Z AZ Nagel Irene E IE Preuschhof Claudia C Gluth Sebastian S Bäckman Lars L Li Shu-Chen SC Lindenberger Ulman U Heekeren Hauke R HR

Human brain mapping 20110707 7

Executive functions that are dependent upon the frontal-parietal network decline considerably during the course of normal aging. To delineate neuroanatomical correlates of age-related executive impairment, we investigated the relation between cortical thickness and executive functioning in 73 younger (20-32 years) and 56 older (60-71 years) healthy adults. Executive functioning was assessed using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Cortical thickness was measured at each location of the cort ...[more]

PMID: 21739526

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Project description:Declines in cognitive functioning are commonly experienced with aging, yet there is wide variation in the nature and extent of these changes. Previous research has shown associations between the frequency of engaging in stimulating cognitive activities and performance on cognitive tests. However, it is not known whether it is important to increase the amount of cognitive activity as one gets older in order to curtail cognitive declines. We examined cognitive activities and cognition in a national sample of 2,130 community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults from the Midlife in the United States longitudinal study. Participants completed cognitive assessments of episodic memory (EM) and executive functioning (EF) on two occasions, ~9 years apart. At the first assessment, participants ranged in age between 33 and 83 years (M = 55.76, SD = 11.09), with 56.1% women. Multilevel models were tested to examine educational level and change in cognitive activity as predictors of change in EM and EF, controlling for initial level of cognitive activity and key correlates of cognitive decline. Results indicated that increases in cognitive activity were important over and above earlier levels of cognitive activity for reducing declines in EF. Further analysis also showed differential results by educational level. Increased cognitive activity was not associated with changes in EF among individuals with a college degree. In contrast, individuals without a college degree who increased their cognitive activity showed significantly less decline in EF compared to those without a college degree who decreased or maintained their cognitive activity across the 9 years. Thus, the results suggest that increased engagement in cognitive activity makes more of a difference for EF declines among those without a college degree. The results have particular relevance given that aging-related changes in domains such as work status, health, or social relationships can lead to reductions in stimulating cognitive activities. The findings emphasize the importance of increasing cognitive activities especially among those with lower educational attainment.

Project description:Importance:A total of 25.7 million children in the United States are classified as overweight or obese. Obesity is associated with deficits in executive function, which may contribute to poor dietary decision-making. Less is known about the associations between being overweight or obese and brain development. Objective:To examine whether body mass index (BMI) is associated with thickness of the cerebral cortex and whether cortical thickness mediates the association between BMI and executive function in children. Design, Setting, and Participants:In this cross-sectional study, cortical thickness maps were derived from T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance images of a large, diverse sample of 9 and 10-year-old children from 21 US sites. List sorting, flanker, matrix reasoning, and Wisconsin card sorting tasks were used to assess executive function. Main Outcomes and Measures:A 10-fold nested cross-validation general linear model was used to assess mean cortical thickness from BMI across cortical brain regions. Associations between BMI and executive function were explored with Pearson partial correlations. Mediation analysis examined whether mean prefrontal cortex thickness mediated the association between BMI and executive function. Results:Among 3190 individuals (mean [SD] age, 10.0 [0.61] years; 1627 [51.0%] male), those with higher BMI exhibited lower cortical thickness. Eighteen cortical regions were significantly inversely associated with BMI. The greatest correlations were observed in the prefrontal cortex. The BMI was inversely correlated with dimensional card sorting (r?=?-0.088, P?<?.001), list sorting (r?=?-0.061, P?<?.003), and matrix reasoning (r?=?-0.095, P?<?.001) but not the flanker task. Mean prefrontal cortex thickness mediated the association between BMI and list sorting (mean [SE] indirect effect, 0.014 [0.008]; 95%?CI, 0.001-0.031) but not the matrix reasoning or card sorting task. Conclusions and Relevance:These results suggest that BMI is associated with prefrontal cortex development and diminished executive functions, such as working memory.

Project description:IntroductionWe performed a whole-transcriptome correlation analysis, followed by the pathway enrichment and testing of innate immune response pathway analyses to evaluate the hypothesis that transcriptional activity can predict cortical gray matter thickness (GMT) variability during normal cerebral aging.MethodsTranscriptome and GMT data were available for 379 individuals (age range=28-85) community-dwelling members of large extended Mexican American families. Collection of transcriptome data preceded that of neuroimaging data by 17 years. Genome-wide gene transcriptome data consisted of 20,413 heritable lymphocytes-based transcripts. GMT measurements were performed from high-resolution (isotropic 800 ?m) T1-weighted MRI. Transcriptome-wide and pathway enrichment analysis was used to classify genes correlated with GMT. Transcripts for sixty genes from seven innate immune pathways were tested as specific predictors of GMT variability.ResultsTranscripts for eight genes (IGFBP3, LRRN3, CRIP2, SCD, IDS, TCF4, GATA3, and HN1) passed the transcriptome-wide significance threshold. Four orthogonal factors extracted from this set predicted 31.9% of the variability in the whole-brain and between 23.4 and 35% of regional GMT measurements. Pathway enrichment analysis identified six functional categories including cellular proliferation, aggregation, differentiation, viral infection, and metabolism. The integrin signaling pathway was significantly (p<10(-6)) enriched with GMT. Finally, three innate immune pathways (complement signaling, toll-receptors and scavenger and immunoglobulins) were significantly associated with GMT.ConclusionExpression activity for the genes that regulate cellular proliferation, adhesion, differentiation and inflammation can explain a significant proportion of individual variability in cortical GMT. Our findings suggest that normal cerebral aging is the product of a progressive decline in regenerative capacity and increased neuroinflammation.

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Cortical thickness is linked to executive functioning in adulthood and aging.

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Cortical thickness is linked to executive functioning in adulthood and aging.

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